Dennis Blair Makes A Musical Impression

November 02, 1985|by GEOFF GEHMAN, The Morning Call

A small Long Island club/bar, the summer of 1979. Dennis Blair has failed to wow the crowd with top 40 material. He reaches for an emergency tool: A parody of the Bee Gees' "Stayin' Alive" called "Singin' Too High." The audience is tickled by the sound of "The Chipmunks on Quaaludes."

That night Blair discovered accidentally the next angle of his performing career. The singer/guitarist soon became the writer of humorous songs, musical impressionist and comedian.

Serendipity has been good to the Queens native. His out-of-the-blue graftings of personalities, events and trends have led to work as Rodney Dangerfield's movie, television and record co-writer, Joan Rivers' guest on the "Tonight Show" and a "rescue" comic in casinoland.

Blair especially likes working laugh clubs like the Comedy Factory Outlet, the location tonight of the last of two appearances in Philadelphia. A comedy- oriented crowd, he claims, is a valuable barometer of material. Tonight, for example, his audience will inform him if Tom Carvel, the annoying and ultimately beguiling narrator of commercials for a certain New York-based ice- cream chain, will touch Philadelphians.

"If it works, fine," he said over the phone from his home in Port Jefferson, N.Y. "If it doesn't, I sell it to someone else."

Half of Blair's material is created onstage. Other routines, he noted, come from media reports and ruminations, often started in the shower and the car, on entertainers. On any given night one may hear jokes about the current presidential administration and the "Lassie" theme; a segment about Gucci bag ladies hunting in front of Bloomingdale's and an impression of Sergio Franchi singing Barry Manilow's greatest hits; "Let's Have a Nuclear Picnic," an original ditty, and John Travolta as Shakespearean actor.

But Blair really stars as a musical impressionist. He has been known to recreate performers from all fields, including Johnny Cash, Prince, Sarah Vaughan, Tina Turner, Ella Fitzgerald, Joni Mitchell, Neil Young and Trini Lopez. He insists that not all of these individuals' traits are unknown to his listeners. "Icould give them Charles Aznavour," he explained, speaking of the romantic singer more at home in Carnegie Hall than, say, Dangerfield's.

Rodney, he notes, doesn't recognize many of the musicians he sends up. Then again, the veteran collar stretcher is puzzled by Blair's fondness for on-the-spot material; his jokes, as everyone knows, are recited according to a much-used script.

Despite differences in style, the two comedians evidently work well in tandem. When Dangerfield was looking for a story for his first movie, Blair gave his character a break. In "Easy Money," which Blair co-wrote, Dangerfield's baby photographer inherits $10 million only after avoiding drinking and gambling for a year. The older entertainer received jokes fitting his always struggling public persona while the younger one got to play two minor roles and compose two songs for the soundtrack.

Blair's other musical efforts include Dangerfield's novelty tune "Rappin' Rodney," a theme song for a pay-TV comedy special, an upcoming Off-Broadway show and a band. "Save the Last Dance for Me" (a tentative title) covers the last night of a rock 'n' roll club in the '50s. Roots rock-flavored originals are what he plays with Denny And The Good Guys, a club band. One reviewer was convinced enough to compare him to Buddy Holly.

A label like this leads to an irony of which Blair is very conscious. His musical impressions began as a way of lampooning performers with, he felt, skills inferior to his own. These parodies gave him notoriety. Now a portion of his career is devoted to being a real musician. Can he find success in two disparate jobs?

Yes, but probably only in a fantasy. "My main goal is to be a rock star and open for myself as a comic," he has said many times, "just to hear the audience say: 'Get off the stage! We want you!' "

Dennis Blair will perform at 7, 9:15 and 11:30 p.m. today at the Comedy Factory Outlet, 31 Bank St., Philadelphia. The second show is sold out. Cover charge is $5; there is no minimum. For information, call 386-6911.